Special Report: The Latin American middle class (ISSN 17414474)

The outlook for the Latin American middle class is uncertain. What can be said with certainty is that it is now much larger than it was: about three out of ten Latin Americans are now middle class, according to the World Bank classification, and when asked, just over four out of ten Latin Americans say they consider themselves to be middle class. There are different ways of counting but anywhere between 190m and 285m people can be said to form the Latin American middle class. That group will continue to play a central role in the region’s social, economic, and political development. It currently represents almost 10% of the global middle class. We also know with some certainty that the age composition of the regional middle class is shifting: over the next few decades it will gradually become older. The ageing process will also have far-reaching social, economic, and political implications. There are some indications that in coming years some members of the middle class may begin to move out of the region’s mega-cities into a second tier of intermediate cities, where there is less congestion, pollution and crime, and the prospect of a better quality of life.